Of Friendship, Love, and Mandatory Dances
by Hannibal3125
Summary: Duke/Scarlett. A random accident leads to a very interesting Valentine's Dance.
1. The Report

A/N: Go easy. This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. Also, I'm still new at romance, particularly with such a high-profile pairing. Please, no pairing-related gripes. Actual advice and critique of the writing and the general plot are, of course, quite welcome.

Of Friendship, Love, and Mandatory Dances

Location: CLASSIFIED(Codename: The Pit)

Time: 0745

Date: 14 FEB

Scarlett was confused. She'd gotten in the habit a while back of writing reminders about reports on Post-its and leaving them on her desk until the report was done. She'd then immediately throw it away. In the time since she'd started doing this, she'd never once failed to toss the memo away immediately. There was too much chance of tossing the wrong one or of forgetting if the report actually was done. So why was the report memo on her desk this morning?

Suddenly, it hit her. She'd decided that it could wait until this morning. She quickly booted up her computer, found the file, and clicked the "print" button. Then, she tossed the memo and sat down to prepare for the meeting Hawk had called regarding some of the information in that report.

She realized that she needed to double-check a couple of details before she committed anything to paper, so she glanced back at the report on her screen…and did a double-take…and then swore.

There on the screen, just below one of the details she'd been hunting, was something that she'd never expected to see…at least, not in print.

She'd long ago developed the ability to scan information, then type a report about it while daydreaming about something totally unrelated to the report. She'd always been able to keep the daydream and the data separate. But recently, some of her daydreams had drifted in the direction of a certain top sergeant; and, worse, some had found their way onto what she was typing.

But she'd always caught the slip before finishing the report. Now, she'd just printed a copy with a slip-up on a printer in the conference room! She hurried to check the room. The printer tray was empty. Scarlett began to panic. She had to find that report and get it back before it got out in the open. If someone else read that…she shuddered at the thought. She'd seen enough on the screen to know that she'd apparently been replaying one of her more…interesting daydreams. That was definitely need-to-know info that only she needed to know. _Though_, the back of her mind said, _it might not be so bad if Duke found it._

_Oh, yes, it would!_, the rest of her mind shouted back.

Then, she noticed the blinking display.

_OUT OF PAPER._

She sighed with relief and hit the cancel button on the keypad. The display continued to inform her of its lack of necessary resources anyway. She decided to leave it and return to her office to reprint the report off another printer and finish preparing for the meeting.

In her flustered state, she never noticed the shadow that left the room soon after she did, heading toward Hawk's office.


	2. The Meeting

Time: 0825

Duke hurried around the corner and almost careened right into Scarlett. Until recently, he'd have thought nothing of it, but thoughts of a certain redhead hadn't accompanied him through the night then, either. He stammered out an apology, then held up his hand, took a deep breath to calm himself, and apologized properly. She chuckled at the sight of the normally unflappable NCO needing such a breath.

"So, you're late for the meeting, too?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I can't find my copy of your report. I was scouring my in-bin."

She dug through the small pile of papers in her hand and gave him a copy she pulled free of the others. "Here. Unlike _some people_, I always bring spares."

"Hey, how was I to know General Carthwright would be at that briefing?!"

"Oh, maybe you could try actually reading your memos."

"Hah, hah. Very funny."

"I thought so."

As they approached the conference room, they heard Hawk's voice. They each looked at the other with a puzzled look; Hawk never started meetings early unless everyone was there.

They caught the last words. "Okay, we all know what to do? We begin immediately after we're done here."

Duke and Scarlett hurried into the room. Everyone simply looked back at them. Duke was too curious about what they'd heard a moment before to notice the lack of jokes about them whenever they arrived at the same time. Scarlett noticed, but wasn't sure what to make of it.

Hawk cleared his throat and said, "Well, so glad you could join us," in that way that told you he knew you were late. "Now that the star has deigned to grace us with her presence, perhaps we can get this briefing underway?"

Scarlett blushed briefly, moved to an empty seat, and began giving her intelligence briefing as soon as Duke sat down.


	3. The Plot Begins

"Okay, if we didn't find those chemical warheads there, where else can they keep them? That's our next objective: find where Cobra's moved them to, and destroy them. Questions?"

Flint's hand shot up. "Sir, does this preempt the Valentine's Day dance this evening?"

Hawk smirked at the question and replied, "No. In fact, I'm making attendance mandatory. You only have to put one or two dances, but everyone must come. And if you can't find a date, at least find an appropriate escort."

Duke and Scarlett both began thinking of ways to ask the other to be their "escort" without it being too obvious that they really meant "date".

"Okay, dismissed."

Hawk waited until all the others had left the room, then addressed the shadow in the corner.

"You're sure about trying all this? Half the base has you and her together."

Half the base also has me collecting Barbie dolls or other such oddball things, Snake-Eyes signed back. Then he picked up a legal pad and began writing. "If you're referring to the helicopter thing, you of all people know what issues I had about not being able to protect my sister. That incident helped me work all that out…granted, it cost a bit more than therapy, but it worked. My being with Scarlett is almost – not quite, but almost – like my being with my sister. At least to me. No offense to her, of course. She's great and nice, but not my type in the long run. It's kind of a case of being too much alike for anything to truly last long. You understand?"

Hawk thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, it's your idea, so it's your mission. Where do we go from here if their other best friends can't pull it off?"

Snake-Eyes' head tucked to his chin as he pondered that, then snapped up as an idea struck.


	4. Striking the Match

Time: 1240  
Time to Mission Completion: 5h50m

Beach Head grumbled. He knew this had to be some kind of punishment. He just wished he knew the purpose for such. This had to break the Eighth Amendment or the Geneva Accords or something that dealt with "cruel and unusual punishments".

He'd been there when Hawk had outlined Snakes' plan. He'd been interested in how it came out. But he really hadn't planned on becoming a part of the plan.

He found Scarlett just leaving the mess hall. "Hey, Red!"

She turned. He caught up to her and asked her, "So, anybody ask you yet?"

"No, Wayne. Why?"

"Well, in that case, it would appear we both need an escort. Would you care to accompany me to the dance tonight?"

"Wait, why aren't you asking Courtney? You know, a date?"

"You kidding? Rumor has it that she's asking Duke to go with her."

Scarlett shook her head. "You do realize that the rumor was probably started to get you to ask her? Ace has a pool on the two of you becoming a couple."

_Okay. 1)How does she know about that pool without knowing that Ace has one on her and Duke? 2) How did she figure out the rumor thing without deducing what's really going on here?! _Beach decided that a man could go crazy trying to figure all this out.

"I'm sure Ace does. However, my offer still stands until the dance begins."

"I'm sure it does." Scarlett was positive that Duke would ask her before that happened.


	5. Planting the Seed

Time: 1242  
Time to Mission Completion: 5h48m

Cover Girl walked around a corner and into another wall and swore again. This was the third time in as many minutes. As she moved on toward Duke's quarters, she wondered idly just who she'd annoyed to be tasked with this particular duty. Sure, Duke wasn't a bad catch, but she definitely preferred another type.

It was rather ironic, given her modeling background (or, perhaps, because of it), she preferred guys who got dirty on a regular day-to-day basis. Sure, Duke had a desk job that kept him from always doing such, but she had to admit – there had been times throughout her tenure with the Joes when she wondered if there was some truth to the joke that he ironed his clothes right on his body. He seriously needed to loosen up.

She chuckled as it occurred to her that that very fact was the main point of this exercise. If you couldn't loosen up around a beautiful woman, you definitely needed help. She smiled and searched out Duke to ask for an escort to the dance.


	6. Watering the Seed

Time: 1524

Time: 1524

Duke was going nuts. Flint had been talking to him about the dance for the better part of two hours. Finally, he'd asked who Duke was going with.

"Come on, Conrad! Fess up: who's the lucky girl?"

"Sorry, Dash, but I haven't decided. Anyway, only one 'girl' has asked: Courtney."

"What?! You do realize it's probably to get Beach to come clean about being interested and get him to ask her, right? And what about Scarlett? If you don't ask her, someone else will, you know…"

"Like Shipwreck?" Duke snickered. The gunner's mate would just get shot down again if he asked.

"Yeah, or even Beach Head to make Courtney jealous and get back at you for saying yes to her."

"As if. Beach Head won't ask Courtney for the same reason he'll never ask Shana – he hates these things and couldn't be bothered to find a date."

"Actually, I heard that he already did ask Shana."

It might have simply been Flint's imagination, but the ambient temperature of the room seemed to suddenly drop to temperatures that would make Iceberg cold. Duke didn't even turn around as he asked, "He did what?"

Flint just shrugged. "Hey, it may only be a rumor. But that's what I heard."

"If you'll excuse me…" and Duke walked out the door.

Flint pulled out his communicator, set the frequency, and quietly spoke into the device.

"Rumor Seed 1 planted."

"Good. Let's hope it works."


	7. Fanning the Flames

Lady Jaye was making about the same amount of progress with Scarlett. She'd simply had to suggest that several had heard the rumor about Courtney asking Conrad for the room to get rather frigid.

Shana had then asked if there were any other rumors about that. Allie had replied that some had said that Conrad had accepted or was thinking of doing so. That had been enough for Shana to excuse herself and dart from the room.

Now Allie was reporting in, "Rumor Seed 2 planted. Be advised – subject is almost fit to be tied."

"Acknowledged. And thanks for the warning."


	8. The Argument

Duke and Scarlett met in the hallway about midway between their respective quarters. The Joes who were present at the time of meeting would later attest that the friction could have been cut with a knife. Needless to say, they all immediately left for safer areas.

Duke was the first to get his words out in a logical manner. "Is it true that Wayne asked you to the dance ?"

"Yeah, so what?!"

"Did you accept?"

"What's it to you? I don't report to you for personal matters. Besides, it's not like you ever asked, _and_ I hear you're considering accepting Ms. Krieger's offer; so, about what exactly are you complaining?"

Hawk, Duke and a few of the other Joes knew that when Shana O'Hara's diction started being technically correct, she was about ready to tell you to get lost, and, when you found yourself lost, to drop dead.

Duke, however, wasn't thinking clearly. All he could see was the loss of a woman suddenly important to him. She'd just hurt him. Naturally, the only words that came to mind were ones that would hurt her. "Well, I can lay that rumor to rest; I think I will go with her."

"Fine. I am going with Wayne."

"See you later."

"See you."

The ice in their words could almost condense on the walls and floor around them. But, as they turned away, the hurt each felt was plain for anyone to see.


	9. The Dance

Time:1830

The Dance was being held in the Mess Hall, the only room large enough for such an event.

Conrad Hauser stood uncomfortably near the buffet table at one end of the room. Somehow, Courtney Kreiger seemed oblivious to his discomfort. But, Duke thought, that might have been because she kept glancing the same way he was looking – toward Wayne Sneeden and Shana O'Hara, both of whom also looked rather uncomfortable in their present circumstances. Courtney would glance over for a moment, then go back to trying to get Conrad to dance and enjoy being here.

Shana couldn't help it. Why hadn't she just confessed to Conrad her feelings for him? Then, she'd have been over there with him, while Courtney and Wayne would have been together. Everyone would have won! But she'd had to shoot her mouth off in rage at his brusque interrogation of her in that hallway.

Granted, Conrad needed to work on his approach. But she'd sensed that there was concern and interest behind his questions. Her heart had told her to begin prying at that. Her head had demanded a return volley. Stupidly, she'd listened to her head.

But, then, Shana had never been too good at following her heart.

She wished now that she could go back to that hallway a moment before Duke arrived and slap some sense into herself. But she couldn't, and now she'd told Wayne she'd go with him. She pondered his reaction earlier when she'd told him. It had actually seemed a little disappointed for a second before he'd nonchalantly told her that that was great and arranged to meet her a short time before the dance began. What was with the disappointment?

Unfortunately, whatever angel controlled bad luck had apparently decided she needed yet another helping for today. She was trying to decipher Wayne's reaction when she was rather unceremoniously tugged out past the edge of the dance floor and into the dancers.

She wondered at first if Conrad had gotten the guts to just pull her into a dance when such hopes were quickly dashed by Shipwreck's face staring back at her.

"Hector, I'm here with someone. Leave me alone."

But Shipwreck smirked and replied, "You certainly weren't acting like it. That makes you fair game, Red. Come on, relax. Enjoy yourse-"

Suddenly, Beach Head was there, tapping Shipwreck's shoulder. "Excuse me, sailor boy, but the lady is with me. Go annoy someone else."

Hector immediately stepped back and apologized. The counterintelligence part of Shana's brain kept pinging, telling her that the whole exchange seemed oddly civil, almost choreographed - how Hector had brought her out here and suddenly Wayne was acting like a date. She merely chalked it up as due to the more formal nature of the party.

Courtney saw the whole incident with Shipwreck. That was the signal. She turned back to Conrad and asked him, "Please, Conrad, we're supposed to dance at least one dance. You dance with me now, I won't bug you the rest of the evening. Promise."

Conrad, knowing a no-win situation when he saw it, finally relented. Courtney was relieved. This was her favorite song for formal dances; but, also, she'd finally gotten Conrad in position for her part of the plan.

Conrad glanced over at Shana. She and Wayne were dancing, too… and moving closer to the center of the floor, as were he and Courtney. Dash and Allie were slightly off to the right. His danger sense was pinging, alerting him to some kind of surprise that he wasn't ready for; but he was unused to the feeling when not in combat situations. He ignored it.

At this point in the dance, the better couples would move to the center and twirl around a point between them while holding one hand and looking away from each other. Those not quite so accomplished or otherwise not interested in attempting the more complex maneuver simply danced in a circle around the center.

Courtney showed that she wished to try the intricate move by releasing Conrad's hand and starting to move away. Conrad executed his part almost flawlessly. At times like this, he was glad his sister had shown him how to dance well when they were younger.

He notice Dash and Allie doing the same, as were Wayne and Shana. Then he came back in to complete the move and repeat the cycle.

This happened about six times before, on the seventh, he briefly felt Courtney's hand let go. She immediately grasped his hand – and quite hard, too; so he simply completed the maneuver…and found himself face-to-face with Shana.

The two stopped for a second and looked for their original partners. They found them smirking back from the outer ring of dancers.

"I think we've just been ditched," Conrad said dryly. Shana had a look of incredulous amusement on her face.

"We have. They've been planning this all night."

"Try all day. I'd bet some real money that this is related to that stuff we heard right before we got into the meeting room."

The song ended, along with that particular dance. Duke looked somewhat unhappy with this, but said, "I guess we kinda have to go back to our escorts."

"Yeah," Shana sighed glumly. "Shame. I was just starting to have fun."

They left the dance floor and began seeking the others. It took roughly twenty minutes, but they eventually cornered them back by the drink table.

But Wayne and Courtney told them in no uncertain terms that Conrad and Shana had best get used to each other, at least for the rest of the party. Then they simply walked away.

Shana looked back at Conrad and shrugged. "Well…"


	10. The Truth

"Well…" Nerves took over and the pair became silent. After a few minutes of just standing and not looking at or speaking to each other, Shana opened her mouth to speak, only to have Shipwreck tug her back out onto the dance floor. She looked over at her new escort for assistance.

Duke chuckled and casually looked on, enjoying her torment. Then the number ended, and a new one began…and Shipwreck kept dancing with her. Then he appeared to be trying to feel her up a bit more than she was willing to go along with. Conrad Hauser had seen enough. The hair on his neck stood stock-straight up as he approached the pair.

Shipwreck glanced over his shoulder, saw the Apocalypse Incarnate heading his way, and took off, stammering a quick apology as he did so.

Shana smiled and looked over at Conrad, who was already mostly calmed down. "My hero…" she joked. He smiled and asked, "May I have this dance?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She took the offered hand and began to dance with him.

A couple of numbers later, she glanced up into his eyes…and was captured. In those crystal blue eyes, she saw remorse, concern, affection, even love.

He was immediately aware of her noticing those feelings in his gaze, because he could plainly see, in her own eyes, the guards come down and those feelings reflected back.

He tried to speak, but his voice caught. He cleared his throat, then started again, "Shana, about earlier…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to hurt you. I messed up."

"Conrad, we both messed up. Let's just forgive and forget, shall we? Bygones be bygones and all that?"

"I've got no problem with that."

Another dance ended and a new slower song began. The couple joined in the dance once more. Conrad couldn't believe how lucky he felt at that moment.

They continued to dance, neither wanting the moment to end – each wondering if there was anything better than this.

Finally, Conrad couldn't hold back any longer. He knew that this woman was the most special in the world to him. Ironically, the song ended and was replaced with _Kiss the Girl _from Disney's _The Little Mermaid._ Someone definitely had a sense of humor.

He suddenly realized that, not only had he been staring at her, but she'd been returning the stare. At that same moment, Shana smiled softly and asked, "Well? Aren't you going to?"

It took him a second, but he realized she was referring to the song's refrain – _Kiss the Girl_. Now, he had an obvious invitation to do so. Only a fool would pass up such a chance after waiting for it for as long as he had.

And Conrad Hauser was no fool. With the thought _Carpe Diem_ going through his mind, he accepted the invitation…and softly kissed Shana's lips.

She was naturally surprised at first, but she certainly recovered quickly. She returned the kiss with equal fervor. Both were stunned to find that there was, in fact, something better than continuing to dance together.

When they broke for air, neither could believe what was happening. It had to be a dream.

After a few seconds, Shana softly asked, "Conrad?"

"Yes?"

She quietly laughed and said, "This is real."

"Yes, Shana. This is real. I…I love you, Shana O'Hara."

From the way her face lit up, he wouldn't have been able to make her happier by offering to tie Shipwreck to a target on the firing range.

"I love you, too, Conrad Hauser." It was obvious to all that this was the best moment yet tonight.

The couple continued to dance until the party ended half an hour after midnight.

On the fringe of the party watching the dance floor and the new couple stood two men. Hawk glanced at the primary instigator of this plan.

"Well, Snakes, look like a success to you?"

Yes_._ It was obvious that he was smiling beneath his mask.

"She probably wasn't expecting him to take her up on the offer."

Duke? Do something completely spur-of-the-moment? Funny.

"Actually, I thought the whole thing was pretty funny."

True.

About that time, Shipwreck appeared out of the crowd nearby and joined them. "Looks like it worked."

"Yes, it did. Thanks for helping, Hector. And if you catch up with Jaye, Flint, Beach Head, or Cover Girl, pass on my thanks to them, too."

"Yes, sir."

Hawk glanced at Shipwreck and was surprised to see a small smile of pride in the accomplishment mixed with satisfaction at a job well-done with a touch of happiness for the newly established couple as he watched them dance.

"Hector, I think you're either drunk…or you have a huge soft side."

Shipwreck actually blushed a little and replied, "Very, _very_ drunk, Sir," though it was quite clear that he was anything but.

He cleared his throat and muttered something about making another couple-to-be miserable as he headed toward Courtney Kreiger.

"And to think…" Hawk chuckled. "All this came about because of a accidentally printed report."

A/N: Please review if you liked it. I like to know when others enjoy reading what I enjoyed writing. 


End file.
